Fatal Secrets

by Barbara Phinney

  Jackson leaned over closer to her. “Just humor us, okay?”

  She nodded and they wandered onto the fairgrounds. Ahead, the midway drew people with its bright flashing lights and bold music. Children dashed past them.

  “Look,” Jackson said, drawing Kristin’s attention to the tent ahead. A sign out front announced that judging was in progress and the baked goods division would be opening in an hour.

  Anticipation building in her, Kristin scanned the crowd, searching out each woman’s face.

  But not seeing anyone who looked like her.

  “What are we going to do for an hour?” she muttered.

  “We could see the juried art show,” Bobby suggested, his eyes on Thea.

  Kristin felt a pang of sympathy for the man. Thea had not given him a single hint of interest, but he kept on trying. “Why not?” she asked with a shrug. “It’s right across from the baked goods tent, and one of us could stand outside and keep an eye on it.”

  “I will,” Jackson volunteered, slipping on sunglasses. “I’d be looking like a bored husband waiting on his wife.”

  Thea grinned and patted his arm. “Good. Your training is going well. You’ll make a good husband someday.”

  He shot her a dark glare. “Never mind my training. Just remember yours.”

  He was anxious, Kristin noticed. Not nervous, but rather so vigilant he looked as though he’d snap in half.

  With raised brows, Thea led them into the tent. Rows of paintings and small sculptures filled the large tent. Someone had erected tall, white office dividers to cordon off sections, and the crowd was thickening quickly. Zane and Kristin followed Bobby as he pointed out the works of various artists he knew. Thea hovered behind them.

  Kristin stopped at a painting similar to the one she’d seen at the university. “This looks like yours,” she told Bobby.

  They studied it before Kristin peered around the wall to see what was next, all the while hoping there were some whose subjects weren’t mountains and sky and horses. Maybe something more Early American—

  A man ahead turned slightly, catching her eye before disappearing around the next white corner.

  Martino! She slipped quickly back behind the wall, her hand moving up to her mouth. “Zane!” she whispered. “Come here!”

  Zane was immediately beside her. Thea hurried close, too.

  “Martino was just over there!”

  Thea was already on the small two-way radio to Jackson. She’d clipped it on her cuff. Was the whole task force here?

  Zane grabbed her and dragged her back around the corner. He focused briefly on his brother. “We’ve got to get out of here. Now!”

  Bobby sobered quickly. “I agree. We’ll be safer outside.”

  “Let’s go, then.” Zane latched on to her hand and hurried her out of the tent. At the entrance, Jackson took a hold of her other hand and they began to move into the thickening crowd that strolled the main promenade.

  “Wait!” she snapped out quietly. Before Jackson could hurry her off the fairgrounds, Kristin stopped dead in her tracks. Ahead, the sides of the baked goods tent were being rolled up. Immediately, Jackson began talking into his mic, telling them to watch the juried art tent for Martino.

  “Forget the contest, Kristin. We need to get you out of here. I’ll come back—”

  “No, they’re ready to give out the prizes!” She turned to him, still holding Zane’s hand in her left one, and Jackson’s in her right. “We’ve come too far to leave now.”

  “Kristin, you agreed to follow my rules.”

  “I am.” The crowd had closed around them, and they were boxed in by a mass of people, all who were staring up at the baked goods tent. When he said nothing, she added, “If we move away now, we’ll be going against the crowd. We’d stick out like sore thumbs and Martino is sure to spot us.”

  Jackson considered her words, as Kristin pressed on, “I won’t do anything, I promise. But you want to find Eloise as much as I do, right? Please. She means as much to you as she does to me. Let’s see if she’s here, just for a moment?”

  But Jackson wasn’t listening. He stood staring at the baked goods tent, his expression slackened. His grip on her hand tightened. He paled, as if he was going to faint.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t move a muscle, Kristin. If Martino is here, anything we do will give Eloise away.”

  Her heart tripped up in speed. “How?”

  “Because,” he whispered, leaning close to her, “your mother is right there.”

  She gasped.

  “Don’t move, Kristin,” he begged. “Please don’t move a muscle.”

  She nodded. Relief swamped across the man’s face, and still gripping her, he added, “Don’t give her away.”

  Kristin blinked hard, fighting the tears as she ached to turn around to look. “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely positive.” He touched his earpiece. “My agents have lost Martino for the moment.”

  Kristin bit her lip, and shut her eyes. “Zane—”

  Zane released her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Do as he says, sweetheart. Let the crowd thicken.”

  “Then I won’t be able to see her. I’m too short!” She hiccupped out a small sob. Zane tightened his grip. By now, Jackson wasn’t facing the tent ahead, the one that they’d just rolled up the side to reveal a table filled with awards and baked goods. He was facing Kristin talking softly into his mic. She stared back at him, unable to breathe, knowing that the contestants had moved in around the awards.

  Jackson looked grim. “Martino was just spotted in the parking lot. He—”

  Behind her, Zane whispered a soft, “Whoa.”

  She couldn’t stand it anymore. Following his gaze with her eyes only, she was met with an incredible sight.

  “She looks like me!” Though her words were barely a whisper, she knew Zane heard her.

  “Yes. She’s beautiful. Just like her daughter. I look forward to meeting her.”

  “Which won’t be today,” Jackson whispered harshly. “Not with Martino close. Right, Kristin?”

  She nodded, barely able to move.

  “I know you want to meet her, but we have to move carefully. I need to intercept Eloise when she’s done. I promise, Kristin, you’ll meet her soon. But in the meantime, we follow my rules. We don’t need any more deaths.”

  “No. I can wait.”

  She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out.

  Her mother.

  Her mother was right there, accepting the award for her huckleberry pie, and it won best in the show, too. As the crowd clapped, someone handed her a blue ribbon and she smiled warmly back at the judge. She had lovely hair, the same color as hers. She was so delicate, so youthful.

  She looks so much like me. Thank You, Lord. For everything.

  Kristin bit her lip to hold back her tears. Finally, she dragged her gaze away. “I’ll do whatever you say, Jackson. I know my mother is alive. And with Zane here—” she smiled up at him warmly, finding that though he swam in her unshed tears, he was clearly as moved as she was “—I’ve learned that I’m so much more than I thought I could ever be.”

  Zane kissed her hair, and crushed her in a loving embrace. Jackson spoke into his mic as furtively as possible. Then they filtered through the thinning crowd. When she glanced back at her mother, the woman was melting back into the crowd. Jackson was again talking on his mic, telling someone that Martino had sideswiped the parking attendant’s hut as he sped away. Kristin hiccupped a small sob.

  “It won’t be long, sweetheart,” Zane whispered as they slipped to the side of the crowds. Safe behind the front entrance, he added, “We’ll meet her, and you’ll have your whole future with her.”

  They watched one of Jackson’s men then tear away from the fair in pursuit, but Jackson’s expression was grim. Kristin knew the odds of catching Martino were slim.

  “We? What about your going to Mexico with Bobby?”

>   “I thought about it. I thought about everything you said yesterday.” Understanding lit up his face. Then he let out a soft laugh. “You’ve been hurting, afraid to hope for success in finding your mother, afraid that I would drop you as soon as I found my brother. That’s not going to happen. You think that I’ve been looking for a family all this time and now that I have my brother, I don’t need you anymore.”

  “You need a family.” Even as she said that, she cringed inwardly. And held her breath.

  “I have one in you, Kristin. I love you and want to marry you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I’m willing to wait for you.” He chuckled. “I’ve learned to trust God, and I see that I’ve learned patience, too.”

  “I know. Something I need to learn. Wait upon the Lord, the Bible says.”

  “Yes. When the time is right, we’ll meet your mother. Sometime in the near future.”

  Kristin hugged him back. “And in the meantime, we have our future together.”

  Dear Reader,

  When I was writing this story, I had to access memories I’d kept locked away for a long while. These memories included the deaths of my parents, and how alone I had felt. Of course, no matter how good one is at writing, no one can ever fully explain the feeling of losing a parent. A woman who was in her sixties once told me that no matter how old you are, when your mother passes away, it hurts terribly and you feel like a small child again.

  In Fatal Secrets, my heroine deals with great loss. Her beloved adoptive parents have died and, months later, she’s still struggling.

  But she has her faith, and with that we can know that God is there to comfort you, and can do an amazing thing for your grief. No, He doesn’t take it away. But the pain is eased, and the knowledge that God loves everyone, that He wants to welcome those who have passed away with open arms, makes the tough times ahead easier.

  My heroine also discovers another important truth. That God is working actively in her life and in Zane’s life, right to the very point that He wants them together. We can do so much for each other on earth. It all starts with trust in God, and love for others, those two great commands of which Jesus reminded us.

  Let’s try to love each other. To be there for each other, and to accept God’s gracious gifts for our lives here.

  Blessings,

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  In the beginning, Kristin decides to disobey Jackson and continue her search for her mother. Is it proper for her to do so? Would you, under the same circumstances?

  Early on, we learn Zane has no time for God, having been abused as a child by a so-called Christian. How would you minister to such a person?

  To protect ourselves, we sometimes avoid things that may lead to pain, as Kristin avoided seeing her parents’ crash site. They can become superstitious. Even in our walk with God, we can be superstitious. What do you do that is similar? Do you think it will make God act differently?

  At the lake, Kristin suggests that Zane ask God to teach him what He wants Zane to know. Have you ever done that? Have you ever asked for wisdom, or a change of heart?

  Do you agree with Kristin’s motives to continue her search? She feels that she owes it to her mother who’d saved her life, and she has no one in her life right now. Would you do the same thing?

  How do you perceive Kristin? Is she strong, weak, tearful or immature? How would you be in her circumstances?

  Because He’ll never force Himself on anyone, God wants us to take the first step. Zane did that at the lake. Have you taken that first step by asking the Lord into your heart? Or admitting your sin? If yes, do you remember that time? Try to describe it in words.

  Kristin ministered to Zane without ever realizing it, just by her faith. By combining your own faith with learning to describe concisely your first step toward the Lord, do you think you could become an effective minister for the Lord?

  Like Zane, are you a bit rusty in your prayers? How can you remedy that? Do you think it would help your life to pray more often?

  Zane recognized that Kristin possessed a peace he didn’t have. How can we get that peace?

  Zane’s parents were not good examples of Christians and they tainted his view. How many people do you know have such an opinion because of people like Zane’s parents? Do you have that opinion yourself? How can it be repaired? How did Zane repair his opinion?

  Afraid she is losing Zane when his brother arrives, Kristin wonders if God was telling her to stop her search. How can we avoid misinterpreting God’s will in our lives?

  Do you get mad at God? Is it okay to argue with Him?

  Kristin and Zane realize that God is working in their lives when she drops the tissue at his office. Only then was Zane able to see the bomb. Do you see God working in your life in what may seem at the time like a mundane thing?

  Special thanks and acknowledgment to Barbara Phinney for her contribution to the Protecting the Witnesses miniseries.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5576-4

  FATAL SECRETS

  Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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